Double Feature - 1970 Plymouth AAR Barracudas

Six forward gears, 12 barrels of carburetion, 16 cylinders, and 580 hp is what we’re talking about here—the sum total of the assets of Dave and Lauriann Nicewander’s potent pair of 1970 AAR ’Cudas. Though they are husband and wife, Lauriann is a strong Mopar enthusiast on her own, with deep Mopar roots. She didn’t need any persuading from Dave as to the right brand loyalty.

Growing up, Lauriann’s family owned Chrysler products exclusively. She cut her teeth in a ’69 Charger, working summer jobs to keep high-test in the tank. A college roommate had a ’Cuda convertible that she thought was “the coolest car.” So her Mopar light was burning bright at an early age.

Meanwhile, Dave was also coming up through the ranks of a Mopar-lovin’ family. He says, “When I was a little kid, in 1970 or ’71, my older cousin, who lived next door, had a Duster and would take me for rides. He also would let me help clean up the car for Saturday nights. Guess he was getting free cleaning labor, but as a little wannabe gearhead I really enjoyed it.”

A friend of his cousin had another Mopar that would make a big impression on young Dave. “Mutt Farmer had a new AAR,” says Dave. “My cousin always talked about Mutt’s AAR. Then one day I saw it: a purple AAR, black hood and stripes, side pipes roaring with a high rear end. As a little kid I didn’t really know what it was, but I knew it was bad and that I wanted one. That feeling stayed with me.”

When the time came, Dave bought a 1974 Charger Rallye (he still has it), but the AAR bug wouldn’t go away. By now Dave and Lauriann were married and had begun acquiring a car or two. With both established in their careers, they took the plunge.

2/11

The Orange AAR

“In 2005, Lauriann and I purchased the orange one,” says Dave. “We found it on the show field at the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals. The owner was thinking about selling it. We talked with him several times that weekend, but he had made a deal with someone else. For some reason that fell through, and he contacted us later to see if we were interested. So, we made a deal and purchased the car.”

Finally the long-standing itch was scratched.

3/11The AAR eyeballed well, but it took Dave and Lauriann—with the help of Frank Badalson—a long time to correct a lot of small details that were incorrect.

It needed a lot of things corrected, countless things in the engine compartment

The AAR looked great and was a blast to drive. Inside, it was an oddball, with a Rallye dash, column-shift TorqueFlite, and a wild bench seat. As Dave got to know his new AAR, he noticed a few areas that could use some improvement.

“It’s had the quarters and trunk replaced,” Dave notes, “and it had the usual E-Body rust. It needed a lot of things corrected, countless things in the engine compartment. It needed an N.O.S. master cylinder, correct carbs, fan clutch, hoses; it had an incorrect alternator, and an unreal amount of generic hardware.”

With the help of their friend, noted Mopar authority Frank Badalson, they began correcting the engine compartment’s many deficiencies. Dave says, “The Prestolite dual-point distributor was still there, but it needed to be restored, so it went to Frank’s. The engine had the wrong water pump pulley, spacers, and bolts, and the car was covered with a lot of spray-painted items. We spent a lot of time replating and refinishing those things.”

Elsewhere, the rear G60-15 tires were correct, but new E60s were needed up front. The whole rear suspension was removed and restored with complete replating, factory marks, and color codes, one of Frank’s specialties. Dave installed a new AAR exhaust system, and Roger Gibson restored the driveshaft. A myriad of other details were upgraded too, bringing the premium Plymouth to its current state of wonderfulness.

Dave researched the AAR’s background, but it remains cloudy. “As far as we can tell, it was originally a Texas car,” he says. “It has the matching transmission, but not the matching motor. I heard the original motor was blown and pulled several years back somewhere in Pennsylvania. It has a correct motor, just not the numbers-matching one.”

It’s officially Ivy Green Metallic, informally known as F8. Also a Chryslers at Carlisle find, the green AAR came from New York and was a low-mile example with only 30,000 original miles. It had all of its original sheetmetal—a rarity—and dozens of clips, tags, and fasteners. Its many options took up two broadcast sheets and original fender tags.

That was the good news. The bad news was that it was showing its age, and a previous owner had already taken a whack at an amateurish restoration. “It needed a ton of work,” Dave recalls.

7/11The dark green paint gives this AAR a “sinister” look, says Dave. The orange car usually grabs more attention, he says, though this one “is the better car.”

“In the sunshine it looks very sinister and really stands out

The green car also got a rearend and driveshaft resto. Frank carefully removed spray paint to find the original factory markings and duplicated them. Painter extraordinaire Stuart Jackson removed an unfortunate attempt at replicating the original Organosol, and correctly repainted those areas: front header; tops of the hood, doors, fenders, and quarters; tail panel, and cowl blackout.

The engine got a major makeover, with lots of N.O.S. parts, a correct alternator, and a master cylinder. A few hard-to-find items were replaced as well, like the starter splash shield for the fast-ratio steering, which Frank was instrumental in finding, along with the always-missing 340 transmission-to-engine support struts. The 340 Six Barrel engine is the original matching-number motor, but the matching trans is long gone.

Dave says that the legend about multicarb engines being tuning problems does not apply here. “Both AARs run really strong. Everything on the cars works just as it should. Both six barrels work perfect and pull hard. You always hear talk about how fussy Six Packs are. Well, we have four of them, and they all run perfectly.”

8/11Six Barrel engines may have a reputation for being hard to keep in tune, but Dave says that’s not the case with either of his ’Cudas.

Of the two, the orange one is quite the crowd-pleaser. “They do get a lot of attention in traffic or at a cruise-in,” Dave says. “The F8 green looks kind of dark indoors, but in the sunshine it looks very sinister and really stands out. The orange one always stands out in a crowd—it just looks outrageous—even though the green one is the better car.”

When there’s work to be done, you won’t find Lauriann on the sidelines.

“She’s kind of a gearhead princess,” says Dave. “Lauriann has worked a lot out in the shop with me on all of our cars. When we reinstalled the rearend housing and suspension, she rolled under her car and did the whole thing with me.”

Dave and Lauriann share the work, and share the fun too.

“All of our cars are jointly owned. However, the green one is no doubt hers and the orange one is mine,” Dave explains. “If we’re only driving one somewhere we usually change drivers at some point. Our other cars are a gray area. Sometimes there is a little power struggle. I usually give in since she never says no when I want to buy another car. That’s usually good, except there’s no voice of reason sometimes. She’s always in.”